The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1887-04-23


door bearing the name Of the institution,
and a young Scotchman, a townsman OF
! George Smiths In Aberdeen, then just ar.
rived and running loose In Milwaukee,
named Alexander Mitchell, was installed
Ia foresaid shsn'y as the Company's Secre
,ary As the institution never did a dol
lars worth of insurance business, Of course
the secretaryship for the first year or two
was a sinecure. But about lSil, the I'LL
ne Is and Indiana State Banks having gone
by the board, aud the country being with
out paper money, Smiths prolific rain
evolved the ambitions idea Of furnishing
the west with reliable" currency. He
avaird himself OF the deposit" clause In
his charter and issued nicely engraved one,
two, three and tive dollar bills under the
name of certificates of deposit in his Mil.
waukee institution The American Roths
child who made the first deposits 10 the
amount Of $50, 900 TO 100000 In the Mil.
waukee concern was man OF straw named
James Christie. The paper was AT first re.
ceived with reluctant suspicion, but Stra.
chan IL Scott being prevailed upon 10 lend
IL their endorsement, II at once rose into
high credit During 1912 and 1913 the
issues rapidly increased until they were
said 10 exceed half million, and StraChan
il Scott, after the first $4,000, having
ceased TO endorse the Paper; and further.
more James Christie having been shown TO
be man of straw, and his place as deposi-
tor having been taken by Smith Il Web,
ster George Smith himself and man
named Webster whom he had put AS clerk
in little commission house on Water
street. the country again became nervous
about the George smith paper and then
for the first time In the history Of the con,
Germ, the OTTAWA FREE TRADER, in Dec
lSi3 opened newspaper war on II, show.
ing up in clear terms its wholly illegal and
baseess character, and warning the people
against going to sleep with too much Of its
paper under their pillows. The breeze
started by the FREE TRADER was taken up
by the press generally of the state and
came within an ace Of driving Smith % the
wall. Early In March, 1874, Smith go.
wind of man with $4,000 of his paper
In a satchei on his way to Milwaukee 10
test the redeemability of James Christie's
enormous deposits, and by hurridly raking
up the loose money he could find in Chi
cago and putting 1t on little steamer and
rushing it right to Milwaukee, Smith ar.
rived few hours ahead of the man with
a satchel, and thus the credit Of the mil
waukee Marine and Fire Insurance Com
pany" was fortuitously saved. Smith, how
ever, by that furry was compelled to put
up securities for his paper, and his credit
was so fully restored, that in few years
later his paper issues had gone up TO ST..
500,0 600 The repeal of his charter by the
Wisconsin Legislature in 1874 in no wise
affected his credit; and the BUSINESS with
its enormous profits rapidly extending, the
Milwaukee end was turned over to Alex
ander Mitchell, who, without a charter or
scrap of legal authority, continued his
"bank" and ilourished until about 1859,
when 1t was regularly organized under the
State Banking Law of Wisconsin, and as
such it continues to this day, but with all
its paper issues withdrawn, never having
organized under the national banking law.
Thus we see how often men, beginning
In no other capital but impudence and
push, combined with abundant brain, and
favored by chance and no little good luck,
blossom out into milionaires and great
public benefactors Thus the Vanderblts,
Jay Gould, Alexander Mitchell and others
have suddenly shot up and ripened into
full grown millionaires, while the Jim
Fishes and kunes, and Ferdinand Ward,
and that race less favored by the goddess
of good luck, have gone up the spout.